Companion
by Bellalyse Winchester
Summary: Sequel to 'Stranger'. Allie Becker hoped to leave the ARC behind her, but when she and the Doctor stumble upon a sinister alien plot unfolding on Earth, she must face everything she was running from-and the real reasons she was running.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, it's Bellalyse again. I don't own Primeval or Doctor Who, but a girl can dream. This is the sequel to **_**Stranger**_**, but if you haven't read that you can probably still follow the story from here. **

**This story involves a lot more Primeval than _Stranger _did (although it appears sort of late), so Primeval fans might find it better than _Stranger_.**

**Much thanks to Starswordiscool for helping me in the development of this plot. **

**Please read and review! It's the only way I can know what I'm doing right and improve what I'm doing wrong. **

Allison loved how quickly the Doctor could operate the TARDIS.

His hands could turn cranks and press buttons, pull levers and twist knobs, knowing (with hundreds of years' experience) every move through time and space it would make.

She'd been with him for three days; every day with the Doctor was something new, something magnificent wrapped up in an adventure. Day One: ancient Egypt. Day Two: an alien world called Allira, which had beautiful panoramic sights from its towers reaching several miles above the planet. Day Three: a hike through a Cretaceous-Era forest, with the Doctor pointing out the dinosaurs' genera and species as they passed. She wondered what the Doctor had planned today.

"What do you think of a good, old-fashioned party?"

Allison was torn from her thoughts by the Doctor's question.

"Um-where?"

The Doctor grinned. "I was thinking Las Vegas. Gambling, drinks, and ritzy hotels-then we can spin the TARDIS out to California in a tick and hit the beach tomorrow!"

Allison's mouth fell open. "Like-a _real_ holiday, staying in a hotel-with shampoo in little bottles and room service and cable TV and going to the beach and sleeping in late?"

The Doctor laughed. "Yeah, s'pose so. You like it?"

"I _love_ it, Doctor!" She came up behind him and hugged his waist before releasing him and falling onto the couch. "You are remarkable."

"I bet you say that to all the boys." The Doctor laughed, spinning a dial and pulling a few levers. "I'm gonna have to teach you to fly this thing. I taught Donna-"

He broke off, smiling thinly.

"I'm sorry; I keep bringing her up. I just keep remembering. Every way I look, something reminds me of her. I can't tell you how many times I found a long ginger hair in the TARDIS and just dropped everything to go visit Chiswick, walk past her home."

Allison looked at him sympathetically. "What was she like?"

The Doctor's hands slipped from the controls as he inhaled. "She was incredible. When I first met her, she was sassy, quick, and so lost…she was the sort of person who let life go past her without stopping to realize what she was missing. And then she found me again-the most impossible thing to do, mind you, unless I'm looking for you as well-and she was still sassy, quick, and lost. But we both got better for having each other. I mean-usually my companions fall head over heels in love-I mean, look at me! Can't blame them." He straightened his tie haughtily, and Allison laughed. "With Donna, it was different. According to her family, she used to go around bringing all sorts of men home-but there was none of that, just two best friends seeing the best and worst of the universe together. We understood each other."

Allison smiled gently. "And then she forgot?"

The Doctor cocked his head to the side. "I had to erase her memory."

"What happened?"

Then he was silent, Allison rose to her feet and stepped over to the Doctor, taking his hands in hers. "Doctor, I want to help you through this. I _have_ to help you through it."

"She took my consciousness into her," he said. "All of my memories, all of the emotions that I've felt, and all my knowledge. That's nine hundred and four years' worth of memories within a human skull-it's an impossibility that nature would have resolved quickly with her death. It was already starting to affect her, overloading her brain. I had to wipe her mind of _every_ trace of me-seeing her afterwards, with no idea who I was, was like seeing her catatonic. Sometimes I wish I could forget her; it would be easier than bearing the memories."

Allison raised a hand to his face, stroking a tear from his eye with her thumb. "Never try to forget her, Doctor. She's part of the man you are now, and I wouldn't want to change that for anything."

The Doctor raised his own hand to his face, curling his fingers about hers. "Onward?"

Allison nodded. "Onward."


	2. Chapter 2

The lights of Las Vegas beckoned them from the TARDIS; they found a tall, bright hotel and the Doctor checked them in with a flash of his sonic screwdriver onto the main computer. Allison was nearly squealing with anticipation. When they reached the room, she twirled about, narrating her surroundings with glee.

"There's the phone-we're ordering in pizza tonight, right? I don't feel like going out from here. Oh, look at that huge flat-screen telly! And everything's all gold and white and so beautiful! Oh my God, Doctor, this is _so_ heaven."

"Imagine, I've been impressing girls across the universe with the TARDIS," the Doctor mumbled to himself. "Should've just brought them to Vegas."

Allison had already run off to look at the bathroom, so he found the bedroom and collapsed onto the king-size. It really _was _total luxury; there were even rose petals strewn across the foot of the bed. He smirked in spite of himself. He wondered sheepishly how Allison would consider the sleeping arrangements. He realized he'd find out soon enough; he heard her voice from the main room approaching.

"I've _got_ to go clothes shopping, Doctor-have you got any money? I know you just sonic stuff and it works but it'd be nice to just go out and buy something-we could go to _Paris_ next week and get great fashions!"

She entered the room and spun around in confusion. "Where's-where's _my _bed?"

The Doctor melted; he felt his face heat up. "Uh-this is your bed."

Allison's eyes widened as it dawned on her what he was saying. "Oh," she said, her face unreadable. The Doctor's expression darkened a little bit, but Allison just hopped onto the covers next to him.

"Rose petals-that's a nice touch, innit?" she said brightly. "I wonder how much this costs, to a regular person. Got to be a few hundred bucks a night. Thank _God_ for your sonic screwdriver, Doctor."

The Doctor appeared surprised. "I do good?" he managed to ask. Allison smiled easily, tangling his fingers in hers.

"_Very_ good," she assured him. "Molto benne."

Their eyes locked. Allison felt herself flush; the Doctor took his hand towards her face and pushed a strand of dark brown hair out of her eyes. Suddenly he was leaning in to her and she was leaning in towards him, and her eyes closed. She barely heard the buzz of a mobile, so she was caught with great confusion when she opened her eyes and saw the Doctor on the other side of the room, holding her cell.

"For you," he said, tossing the phone to her. She caught it and raised it to her ear, glaring at the Doctor.

"Hello?"

"Allie?" a familiar voice asked.

Allison took a sharp intake of breath. "Nick?" she asked. The Doctor watched her warily, a little more than she liked. "What-why are you calling me?"

"Wrong number-why the hell do you think I'm calling you?" Allie was struck by his sharp tone. "I'm coming after you. What do you think you're doing, running off to America?"

"You _traced my mobile?_" Allison asked. The Doctor looked at her protectively.

"We had no choice, Allie. Lester was furious and your parents were no picnic, either. And then I call and some guy answers the phone? Is this the guy you mentioned in your note?"

"Yeah," Allison replied tersely. "And it's not what you think. We're on vacation, just for a little while. God, it's not like we're _running off_ together or anything!"

The Doctor watched her cautiously. "Do you want to be alone?"

"I'm fine," Allison said, her hand over the phone. Returning to Nick, her tone sharpened. "Anyway, since when are you my mum? I'm a grown _bloody_ woman and I'm capable of taking care of myself."

"That's what you said in the future anomaly."

Allison's blood ran cold; the grim memory of one of her last anomalies sent terror through her spine.

"_Never_ bring that up," she breathed, her bitterness surprising even herself. "And leave me alone. _This_ is why I had to leave, what I had to get away from. You don't respect me, you never did. Maybe I'm not smart like you, or athletic like Jo and Stephen-that doesn't mean I'm useless! I don't expect you to understand. You're the _oldest_, the perfect worker for _stupid _Lester and his _stupid_ ARC!" With that she hung up and threw the phone across the room.

"Allie?" the Doctor asked cautiously. She closed her eyes, breathing quickly, before forcing a smile.

"I am _so_ not letting them ruin this," she insisted. "They've ruined everything since I was in high school_. _Order some pizza_-_I'm gonna take a shower."


	3. Chapter 3

Listening to the water running in the bathroom, the Doctor pushed a hand through his hair.

He'd never imagined that anyone could dislike the ARC; it was, at least to him, the most incredible Earthbound organization there was. Nonviolence and protection of the timeline put together! And yet there was Allison, with the water under such high pressure that the sound of her crying was barely audible.

Was it humans, or just women?-both of them were impossible, making human women the worst. He had the rotten luck of always getting entangled in the affairs of human women…not that he minded that often.

He heard the water shut off and the shower curtain be pulled aside. Simultaneously, there was a knock at the door; he leapt to his feet with the vigor of having sat immobile for nearly an hour.

"Thank you, brilliant timing-I'll just take that," he said, handing the pizza delivery man a hundred-dollar bill and taking in return the box of steaming-hot pizza. "There's a Do Not Disturb sign-brilliant!" He snatched the sign off the inside doorknob and hooked it onto the outside doorknob. The pizza man nodded and walked away.

"Allie! Pizza's here!"

There was a noncommittal grunt from the bathroom; out stepped a somewhat renewed Allison enveloped within a thick white bathrobe.

"I'm thinking we sleep in and then TARDIS off to Paris," she said. The Doctor eyed her cautiously.

"You all right?" he asked quietly.

Allison gave him an impertinent look. "No, half left," she said saucily. "I'm _fine_-like I said, they're not ruining my life anymore."

The Doctor looked at Allie unhappily. "I don't like to see anyone upset, Allie, especially my friends."

Allison took a deep breath before looking at the Doctor earnestly. "Doctor, going to Paris is the best thing. For one, it'll throw the ARC off our trail-they're following my cell phone, so I _could_ just drop my phone off in Paris and let them run around in circles a while. Tonight, let's just eat the pizza."

She gave him a smile that was more real, and he sighed with relief. "Brilliant-could you maybe take the box? I'm burning my fingers off here."

Allison smiled before laughing gently; she took the pizza box from him quickly and set it on the room's table.

"You know you _really_ don't need to buy new clothes," the Doctor pointed out as they sat down. He opened the box and extracted a cheesy slice of pizza. "I've got a whole roomful of clothes in the TARDIS."

"Yeah, but-it's totally ghosts of girlfriends past in there," Allie replied with a grimace. "How many girls have you-never mind, I _so_ don't want to know. I just don't want to wear a dress some other woman who's been with you has worn."

The Doctor rolled his eyes before realizing how serious, how honest Allie's expression was.

Allison spun around with excitement, taking in the lights and the glamour.

"_Anything_ I want?" she asked the Doctor excitedly.

"_Anything_ you want."

She squealed with delight, jumping into the Doctor's ready arms. "Oh my God, you are _perfect_!" She went to run into the nearest store but the Doctor grabbed her wrist.

"Meet me back here in three-naw, five hours."

Allison laughed gleefully before pausing, grabbing the Doctor's own wrist. "You don't be afraid to buy something for yourself," she said. "Not that I'm not a fan of the suits, but you could expound."

As she ran off to the stores, the Doctor furrowed his brow.

"Expound?" he asked himself in amusement. Suddenly he heard the ring of a mobile-Allie's mobile, of course. She'd trusted him to drop it somewhere discreet but populous; somewhere hard to search with a company of soldiers. He really had to admit her cleverness.

For a few moments he struggled, whether or not to answer it. Finally he crossed to a bench and opened the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

The line broke off before he had time to finish the word. He grimaced-now the ARC would be coming to Paris. They didn't have as much time as he'd hoped.

He reached into his pocket; after searching several moments he found a wad of euros. Within a few minutes he was alongside the road, talking to a cab driver.

"Eiffel Tower," he said, handing the driver the appropriate amount in euros. "Allons-y!"

As the cab stopped before the monument, he lowered the window and threw the mobile into the street.

"All right-back to the shops."


	4. Chapter 4

They reentered their hotel suite, Allison's laughter resounding through the room. The Doctor's arms were full of bags, mostly Allie's clothing-though he allowed her to pick out for him a few outfits to appease her.

"Sightseeing tomorrow?" the Doctor asked. "We can go looking for Area 51!"

Allison rolled her eyes. "That doesn't seriously exist-does it?"

"Dunno. Never checked, to be honest-never been in the neighborhood. I've got a general idea where it should be, though."

Allison raised her eyebrows in amusement. "Really? Well…if spaceships haven't landed there yet, one's about to."

The Doctor grinned, unbuttoning his jacket. The night before, they'd fallen asleep before the telly-he didn't care for changing that arrangement, as it seemed to work for Allison well. He didn't raise the subject and it didn't come up-for a second night, their dreams came for them as they rested in the chairs, the light of the telly still splaying onto them.

Allison woke the next morning to an empty room.

"Doctor?" she called nervously, when sudden, uncontrollable fear took hold. He'd left? _He'd left her in Vegas?_ They hadn't even done anything drunk and stupid! He just...left?

Suddenly the door burst open and in rushed an excited Doctor.

"Allie! Allie!" He ran past her to the chair she had fallen asleep in, shouting at the chair. "Allie-you're…not…in the chair anymore." He spun around, seeing her at last and grinning. "Allie! Got to run, you've _got_ to see this-you're gonna love it."

Minutes later they exited the TARDIS, Allison looking about in confusion-they had landed in the middle of the desert.

"Doctor, we can look for Area 51 after breakfast…" She felt her stomach grumbling impatiently.

The Doctor shook his head. "No, Allie. We're not _looking_ for Area 51-we're standing right on top of it."

That took a moment to sink in for Allison. "Really?" she asked. The Doctor nodded, holding up his sonic screwdriver.

"Beneath the sand is a thick metal sheet, and then a pocket of nitrogen, oxygen-basically, a room underground." He seemed delighted. "Isn't it brilliant? A room-likely an entire building-underground."

"Awesome!" Allison shared his grin. "So…we need shovels, or what?"

"No, no-that's the brilliant part. There's a door, somewhere around here-"

"You don't know where it is?" Allison crossed her arms.

The Doctor held his sonic screwdriver to the ground. "I'll find it. It's just beneath the surface, and then…ah!"

There was a pause, and the Doctor leapt backwards. "There it is."

Slowly Allison saw sand get displaced by subterranean movement. She leaned into the Doctor, feeling his arm fall comfortably over her shoulder, and knew whatever lurked beneath the sand couldn't harm her while _he_ was with her.

"How'd you find it?" She asked quietly.

"Oh, you know," the Doctor said with a shrug. "Tried going to where I _thought_ it was, and landed a few miles away. Lucky for me, memory's not as good as it used to be. Nine-hundred years old, Allie."

Allison rolled her eyes. "You would do that, yeah. Not to mention the TARDIS probably knew better than you where she was going."

The sand cleared away, revealing a metal hatchway. The Doctor laughed, unlatching it and opening it up. Light shone impossibly from the ground.

As they stepped in, following a bright, white passageway, Allison shook her head with laughter.

"You'd think Area 51 would have better-"

They froze, realizing suddenly that they weren't alone.

"-security…" she finished quietly, stunned. Before them were several hideous aliens. The Doctor stared, looking almost as shocked as the aliens.

"Sontarans!" he exclaimed, but Allison was first to notice what was behind the creatures.

"Humans," she whispered-she was right, as there was a slow-moving line of humans stepping through the room, in one door and out the other-though beyond the humans were cages bearing creatures that made her shudder. "Future predators," she murmured with terror. "D-Doctor?"

"I've seen them before," he nodded, taking a step to the side to grip her wrist. "If the Sontarans have them, we should be _very _scared."


	5. Chapter 5

"Seize them!" a Sontaran exclaimed. Two came at them; there was nothing either could do as they were grabbed by the arms and held firmly.

"Sontaran! You're a Sontaran!" the Doctor shouted quickly; the aliens appeared surprised. "Yes, I know quite a bit, don't I? For a human, don't I?"

Allie looked at the Doctor, hoping he knew what he was doing. The Sontarans seemed confused.

"How do you know so much?" one asked.

"What is your name, Sontaran?" the Doctor asked, pointing a finger at the one doing all the talking. "Why are you here?"

"I am General Spork of the eighth Sontaran fleet, known as Spork the Vengeful."

"Vengeful, vengeful," the Doctor muttered. "So let me guess…"

"We are here to rain death upon the Earth for destroying the tenth Sontaran fleet. The predators are our dogs of war."

"They were used as machines before," Allison exclaimed. "They destroyed the man who used them."

"Human idiocy," the Sontaran laughed. "We know better."

"Hang on, Area 51's a human thing-how'd Sontarans get control? What are those people? What's going on?"

"A general should not reveal his master plan to the enemy," Spork replied.

Allie shook her head. "I'm sorry-Spork?"

"Oh, it's like Bob on Sontar," the Doctor shrugged. "General Spork, whatever you have planned I _beg_ you to reconsider, or we will have to stop you ourselves."

The Sontaran seemed to consider his words before scoffing. "Sontarans do not fear death! All that we have yet to decide is how to dispose of you!"

"If I may, general," a Sontaran suggested, "the Time Lord's TARDIS is likely nearby."

"Thank you, captain," Spork replied. "However, we shall have to lower the protection field to scan for it. A necessary risk, I think."

"Protection field?" the Doctor asked.

"Hang on…predators, that would mean there's an anomaly," Allie said thoughtfully. "They're hiding it, Doctor."

"Go ahead and take it down, once you take down that field, every ARC in the world will know what's going on here." The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "Really, a necessary risk?"

"Return the units to the origins of their originals," Spork said, ignoring the Doctor. "Lower field and find the Time Lord's TARDIS."

"It's right outside," Allie murmured mutedly to the Doctor with a trace of a smile. He shook his head.

"Let them lower the field," he muttered. "Maybe your friend Nicky will put two and two together and meet us here."

The anomaly alert resounded throughout the London ARC. Nick Temple and Jo Becker, still reeling from a fruitless trip to France, stepped wearily to the ADD.

"America," Jo read, her eyes widening. "Nevada."

Nick understood her surprise. "That's too big a coincidence," he breathed. As Stephen Quinn and three senior members-his father Danny, Nick's own mother Abby Temple, and Sir James Lester-entered the room, he backpedaled, snatching up his jacket and running for the door while Jo followed.

"Hey, have we succumbed to _complete_ anarchy already?" Lester exclaimed. "I thought we had a meeting scheduled."

"It's cancelled," Nick snapped.

"We've got a lead on where Allie might be," Jo put in, exhaustion forgotten. "Stephen, get your gun-we're going to Nevada after all. We're bringing her back, dead or alive."

"Aren't you going a bit overboard?" Abby asked. "I mean, she's a grown woman!"

"You know you're not about to win an argument with her," Stephen shrugged. "Tell my mum to call the USARC, we're taking this one."

"They're _your _bloody kids," Lester snarled as they left the room. Danny and Abby exchanged a quick glance before running after them.

"Tell Becker to meet us at the airport," Abby called back to Lester, who threw his hands up in exasperation. "If Allie's there…"


	6. Chapter 6

Allie had to crane her neck to the side every few moments to make sure her Doctor was still beside her. They were both strung up by the wrists a few feet from the floor, forced to watch the TARDIS be dragged into the Sontaran base while a line of humans marched past and future predators snarled in the background, audible above all the rest.

"Doctor," she whispered. "What exactly is it that the Sontarans want vengeance for?"

"The last time I fought them, they were using ATMOS-surely you heard about that!"

"That was _them?_" Allie was thoughtful a moment. "I wasn't even born then, Doctor. My parents told me about it, a little bit. So now they'll try it again?"

"I don't know," the Doctor replied. "If they want revenge, they'll probably have something more planned. The future predators…maybe the plan is to set them on humans-inefficient. Even a thousand of them could only get as many (or just a little more) humans before being killed by soldiers. Plus, what's with the humans-it doesn't make sense…unless-"

He suddenly took a deep breath, sniffing at the air. Allie knew him well enough to know it was his way of investigating, but it gave her chills every time-like she was traveling with a bloodhound.

"That smell," he whispered before coughing. His cough became a quiet laugh, discreet enough to not attract much attention. "Yes, that's clone feed. _Clone feed!_ Aha! Yes, it all makes sense _now!_"

"Brilliant," Allie laughed. "What, exactly?"

"Clone feed," the Doctor said simply. "Last time, they cloned one of my friends-Martha Jones. They had to keep her alive but unconscious to keep the mental link established, so she'd act just like Martha. I figured it out in an instant, of course (not important, I digress). They must be setting clones out into the world…through what, anomalies? Only if there's Sontarans-stationed all over the world!" He had to bite his lip to keep from shouting it, but spoke quickly. "Brilliant-oh, _brilliant_ plan. Humans all held here at Area 51, a place that doesn't exist. Clones sent out into the world to pretend to be them, and wait until the opportune moment. Those clones are the foot soldiers, and…incapacitate unsuspecting friends and family, and then the future predators are sent out to clear off a big ol' chunk of humanity. Sontarans come in at the end, clear off anyone else…guess they've deluded themselves into thinking using the predators is honorable. It's already a part of Earth, so if Earth has their cake but won't eat it, they can take it from the humans' future using these oh-so-convenient time tunnels and kill the humans present." He grimaced. "If it weren't so horrible, I'd be impressed."

Allie forced herself not to ask 'What was that?' "So, Doctor, what do we do?"

The Doctor cocked his head to the side. "That's the tricky bit. I'm guessing this is the main control center, where all the originals are stored. If we release them, their clones stop functioning. The control center for the predators is hopefully here, too, so we shut that down and their brains shut off, like they did the first time they were used."

"Very clever, Doctor." They looked up to see Spork watching them. "Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that you will be able to carry it out chained to the wall. With the power of the time holes, the Sontarans will capture Earth!"

"Well." The Doctor cocked his head to the side. "I suppose _alone_ we're buggered. Heck, if I had to do half the things I've done all on my lonesome, they'd never get done! But, funny thing is, I am v_ery _rarely on my own."

As if called by his remark, there was the screeching hiss of a toothed metal chain tearing through the barrier into the Sontaran encampment.

"Security breach!" Spork exclaimed. The Doctor and Allie watched as sparks flew from the door and finally a hole appeared. The barrier burst open, allowing in two soldiers in black uniforms. They trained their weapons on Spork before lowering them and shouting to someone behind them.

"Sontarans!"

Suddenly there were two rays of light that hit each man in the chest; they fell backwards, and the Doctor and Allie turned to see two Sontarans lowering their weapons.

"Do not let them enter!" Spork was powerless, however, as Allie could hear the buzz of antienergy beacons. (Connor and Allie's father Becker had developed them a few years ago after they took a brief sabbatical from the ARC to work with Torchwood; Allie had thought they were just theoretical devices but had heard them in use during testing. The idea was that they could neutralize any laser fire within a closed area, or in the open within a radius of fifty meters.) A man in a black uniform entered, followed by two men and a woman; all of them held guns and all of them Allie recognized immediately.

"Dad!" she shrieked; Becker looked up at her with relief.


	7. Chapter 7

**Wow, it's been a while since I've been here. For the first time EVER I have developed what may be called a social life, so juggling my writing and that may be tricky. Still, I vow to continue to offer you what I judge to be quality fanfictions, and please offer in return some constructive comments. Or construction paper. **

**I do not own Doctor Who or Primeval, but that doesn't mean I can't dream.**

* * *

"Hang on, Allie!" Becker said. Aligning his gun to Spork's head, he glared at the alien. "Sontarans don't surrender, do they? Well, then, this should be easy. I kill you where you stand for taking my daughter. And as for you-" He turned to the Doctor, the dislike not hidden in his eyes. "-whatever you've been doing with her, it ends now. This is what comes of you taking my girl."

"Daddy!" Allie moaned, pulling against the chains. The others behind him were Abby and Danny; at the very back was a dark-eyed Nick whose hateful glare pierced into the Doctor.

"You know Sontarans well," Spork said. "Kill us, and we die with honor. For the glory of-"

His sentence ended as Becker placed a bullet between his eyes. Allie looked to the Doctor, who barely seemed to notice; his eyes were locked with Nick's.

"Kill the rest of them," Becker growled lowly to Abby and Danny. "Nick, help me get Allie down."

The others obeyed, Abby and Danny running further into the complex. The Doctor finally seemed to break his staring contest with Nick and turned to Becker.

"Captain, I know that I'm not your favorite person in the world right now, and I totally understand it. But there are billions of lives on the line right now-you don't even have to let me down, just hear me out."

"Dad, _please_ listen!" Allison exclaimed as her bindings were broken and she landed on the floor. "He's our only-"

"No, Allie, _you_ listen." Becker grabbed Allie's wrist and stared into her eyes. "Ever since the incident in the future anomaly, you've been making one bad decision after another."

Allie couldn't help glaring at her father. "How did I know you were gonna bring that up? If that's what you want to talk about, then chain me back up-I'm gonna start throwing punches, I swear to God."

"Then start by punching me, Allie!" Nick spoke up at last, leaving the Doctor feeling like things were spinning out of control. "It'll feel better than what I've been going through the past few weeks! Nothing, just one _stupid_ note! Saying you're fed up with me, you're leaving with some random guy you've just met?"

"It's not like that," Allie exclaimed. "I wasn't running from anyone."

"It doesn't matter what you effing call it," Becker snarled. "You left us."

"To see the most _amazing_ things!" Allie shot back. "Next to what-a new monster, a new horror, every week? Watching people die? I've watched worlds being born, Dad."

"The dying _never_ had to be part of the job," Becker replied lowly. Allie gaped in disbelief at him. "It's stupid, lousy mistakes that take lives."

"I wasn't the one who ordered that mission," Allie breathed. "I was just shoved into command because everyone else was on 'important' stuff, and I'm the bottom of the heap. Shit doesn't roll _uphill_, does it?"

Becker seemed to realize his mistake, but too late. "It wasn't your fault, Allie."

Allie's eyes were tearful now. "Yes it was!" she exclaimed. Turning to the Doctor, she bowed her head. "I haven't told you this yet, and…I'd hoped I never would have to.

"I was sent on a recon mission, into the future anomaly. We called it recon…really, it was just trying to cheat time, to find out what had taken our future from us and replaced it with that…hell. I split our party into two teams, to cross the landscape and cover more ground. We used silent guns, and had to shoot any future predators we saw.

"My party was just exiting a building when I saw movement. I began to fire on it, and the rest of my party did, too." Her voice broke as her lips began to tremble. "But it _wasn't _the future predators! I had just ordered eleven of my soldiers-my _friends_-to kill the entire other party of soldiers." She could not contain a sob. "When we came upon them and I saw what I'd done, most of them were still alive, but choking-on their own blood!" She grew incapable of speech as she buried her face in her hands; even Becker and Nick looked a little ashamed of themselves.

"Allie…" The Doctor wished he could be at her side to comfort her, and apparently that was what she wanted, too.

"Cut him _down!_" she shrieked almost incomprehensibly. She ran to his side, where his knee was at eye level, and hid her face in his shin. "Cut him down, _now!_"

Becker gave in to his daughter's sobs, breaking the chains that held the Doctor in place. The two immediately fell into a swift embrace, the Doctor stroking Allie's back as he felt hot tears fall onto his neck. "There, Allie," he breathed curling her hair into his fingers. "I have you. The memories, they can hurt, but they can't stop you, can they? Look at me." Allie settled a little, and raised her eyes to look into the Doctor's. "No one understands better than me, Allie. You remember my stories, of Gallifrey and the war?" Allie nodded, blinking away tears. "I know. I know the pain, the regret, the shame, and the hatred, the disbelief that your own hands could do such a thing."

"It doesn't matter for you," Allie breathed, her fingers curling into fists that she pressed against each of his hearts. "Because you have me _now_. I don't care about any of that, Doctor."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "And you have _me_, Allie. I don't care about what _you've_ been through."

"Really?" Allie asked. "Forever?"

The Doctor winced; Allie remembered that he had promised that to both Rose and Donna, but she had to hear him say it. "Forever," he agreed at last. "I promise."

Becker was looking between the two of them in surprise. "Did you say…Doctor?" he asked. Suddenly his eyes widened and the Doctor grinned at him.

"Hey, Beck!"


	8. Chapter 8

Nick looked between the Doctor and Becker in surprise. "You _know_ each other?" he asked.

"You haven't changed," Becker murmured. "You look _exactly_ the same."

The Doctor shrugged, loosening his grip on Allison. "You know space-time almost as well as I know it, Captain. _Well_-nearly almost. Almost nearly almost. Anyway, I know how to help and you guys are gonna listen."

Becker was still speechless, staring at Allison with his mouth agape. "You're palling around with-the Doctor?"

"Who is he?" Nick asked. "Someone from the ARC?"

"Technically, he's an enemy of the state," Becker said thinly. "He's named specifically in the Torchwood Charter as such, but he's as much that as he is a hero."

"I'm a Time Lord," the Doctor said. Allie looked up at him with a small smile. "An alien, from the planet Gallifrey."

"An alien?" Nick said; now he looked more amused than hurt. "You left me for one of this lot, then?" he added, gesturing at the Sontarans dead on the floor.

"Hey, little respect, please," the Doctor said, miffed. "I was traveling in time while your planet was just being formed…actually, that was just a couple of years ago," he allowed, straightening his tie. "The point still stands."

"You know he's nine-hundred years old," Becker said lowly to Allie, who rolled her eyes.

"Nine-hundred and four, dad," she corrected. "But it's okay! I want to be with him, forever." The Doctor's eyes darkened a little on that word, but Allie didn't see as he quickly stepped in.

"All right, everybody knows everybody," he said. "Now, unless we shut down the controls-"

Suddenly Danny and Abby came bolting up to them, and an alarm began to sound. "They're released," Abby said, heaving her breaths. "The predators were released."

"Everybody get out," the Doctor said lowly, turning to the machines and pulling out his screwdriver. Abby furrowed her brow at him.

"_Doctor?_" she asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, enough of the intros," the Doctor snapped. "Everybody get out, and get out _now_."

Abby, Danny, and Nick rushed to obey, but then Nick turned and looked at Allie. "Come _on_," he exclaimed, but Allie shook her head. The Doctor glared at her.

"Go!" he shouted. "There's predators coming-"

"-and you're making yourself _very_ obvious by shouting," Allie replied, her voice low. "I'm not leaving you, Doctor. Now whatever you're planning, I want to be a part of it."

"And I'm glad, Allie, I really am that you care. But if you don't get out now, you'll be killed."

"Allie!" Nick exclaimed. "If he's so _great_, he can take care of himself."

"No!" Allie shot back. "You can't-"

Suddenly she collapsed to the floor as Becker hit her with the butt of his gun. The Doctor stared at him, astounded.

"That's your _daughter!_" he exclaimed in anger. "You're supposed to protect her, not knock her out!"

"I am protecting her, Doctor," he said. "Danny, carry her out. Abby, Nick, you go with him-_I _am going to help the Doctor. _Now!_" he added, and the others obeyed without question. As the door closed behind them, Becker turned to the Doctor and spoke.

As Allie woke, she looked around her. Nick and Abby sat on either side of her, the former looking, for the first time in a long time, sympathetic.

"What happened?" she asked. "Where's the Doctor?"

"Your dad had to knock you out," Nick said. "We're on the jet back to Britain now."

"The Doctor's gone," Abby added quietly. Allie's eyes widened in horror.

"He _can't_ be!" she shrieked. She tried to get up, but the other two kept her in her seat. "Why would he leave? He can't be gone!"

"It's done," she heard her father's voice say. She turned in her seat to see him, leaning against the back wall of the compartment. "He saved us and he left."

"You made him," Allie breathed. "You told him to leave, you said something to make him go!"

"Yes," Becker replied, not bothering to deny it. "To be honest, I didn't think he would go. I guess he _does _care about you."

"What do you mean?" Allie asked hotly.

"You don't know him well enough," Becker said.

"And you do?"

"Well enough to know not to let my daughter get taken. He's like a drug-his companions all suffered some fallout after losing him. Rose Tyler is trapped in another dimension. Martha Jones lived through a year of suffering on her own while her family was imprisoned and enslaved. Donna Noble lost her memory-"

"I don't care!"

"Exactly." Becker grimaced. "You don't care about the future, only the present. But when he would leave you in the dust, you would have nothing and everything around you would collapse. I knew that the last time he left us, and I won't let you suffer that."

Allie closed her eyes. "Then it's over," she whispered.

"You've still got the ARC," Nick pointed out. "Wouldn't your Doctor want you to stay there, to protect Earth's timeline?"

"We'll never know, will we?" Allie asked, her eyes dark.

**Okay, bad ending, I know. PLEASE BE KIND! I hope I can return to Allie with an awesome new storyline soon, but so much else is happening right now with other fanfics and with life...sorry! Are we cool?**

**Good, you're nice people. Give yourselves a pat on the back. **

**Remember to check out my other fanfictions. As always, R and R, I LOVE hearing your opinions, even if you have nothing to say!**

**And one final note: anyone else who has ideas how to continue Allie Becker, just message me and I'll give the first person with a half-decent (that means I'll take anything with a plot) idea dibs to write it, as long as they mention me in their summary. If not, I'll finish it, I just want people to use their own heads too. So...it's like a communal story or something. Then you can get a new person, and so on. **

**Wow, I must have an enormous ego to think that many people read my fics...**

**I'm gonna shut up now. BYES!**

**XOXO, Bella  
**


End file.
